UCG Work in Brazil Growing

May 2, 2012

[The following report was filed by Jorge de Campos, senior pastor for the United Church of God's Portuguese-speaking regions. Mr. de Campos visited Brazil during the Days of Unleavened Bread.]

The trip to Maloca de Moscow

On April 10 I left the United States to visit the brethren in Brazil, and to conduct three Kingdom of God Bible Seminars and fulfill a number of visit requests. God blessed the trip with spiritual growth of members, safety and health. Thanks are to be given to God for His blessing on this visit.

Church Hall in Wapixana village of Maloca de Moscow built from United Church of God "Good Works" funds.

After flying from Dallas, Giovane Macedo, a member in Brazil, joined me in Boa Vista, Brazil, to visit the indigenous brethren in the Wapixana village of Maloca de Moscow. Giovane and I admired the lovely building which they built with Good Works funds for their services. This building was inaugurated on Passover night, April 5, 2012.

We also admired the lovely new vegetable garden which they planted at my request for their benefit, with “seed” funds donated by brethren. We delivered some toys, second hand clothing and bags of rice for their sustenance. In addition I carried from the U.S. a 32” flat screen TV and a DVD player for them to play our video sermons in Portuguese. All this arrived there in perfect condition and was donated by various brethren. The video sermons will be placed on DVD’s for them, as well as placed on the Web for other Portuguese members, either in Portugal and/or Brazil, who have access to the Internet.

New flat-screen TV for brethren to watch sermon DVDs and other church programs.

On Friday, the last day of Unleavened Bread, we had two services and the attendance was 34 people for both services. On the following Sabbath, April 14, we had services in the morning with 32 brethren present and 8 visitors. In the afternoon we conducted the first series of the Kingdom of God Bible Seminars, with a total attendance of 42, of which 16 were visitors.

On Sunday afternoon we conducted a wedding in the new church hall they built. However, before the wedding I conducted a Bible study about the marriage vow. I addressed God’s laws regarding marriage and the need to comply with the laws of the country, that is, to legalize the marriages in Brazil.

Wedding ceremony in Wapixana village of Maloca de Moscow.

Subsequent to the Bible study, while the ladies prepared for the wedding, we did a leadership training session reviewing previous instructions about preparing sermonettes and additional instructions about how to preach the Word of God effectively, lessons on song leading and general procedures regarding services, how to handle announcements in church, and the festival assistance program for them.

After the wedding we discussed ways that we could proceed to further assist the local brethren.

Visit to São Paulo

Giovane and I left Sunday evening to Boa Vista to catch a 2:30 a.m. flight early Monday morning to Brasília and then to São Paulo. Giovane at this juncture left to go to his home in Montes Claros and I proceeded to São Paulo. The municipality of São Paulo has well over 11 million people and the greater São Paulo region has some 19 million people. After renting a car, I finally arrived that afternoon at the residence of a prospective member family, the Pellegrinos.

Pellegrino family, prospective members in São Paulo.

That same Monday evening I conducted a Kingdom of God Bible Seminar with nine people attending. One of the new people that attended the Seminar was a gentleman of 83 years of age who used to attend God’s Church until 1995, and has remained faithful for all these years. This seminar in São Paulo ended up being a seminar with many questions and we left the venue at about midnight.

On Wednesday I drove 5 hours to Ribeirão Preto to visit a prospective member. This young man showed a lot of interest in the Church and we are in contact over the Internet. On Thursday, I visited a lady in an outlining suburb of São Paulo with many biblical questions and very desirous to worship God with us. In the same evening we visited a man in downtown São Paulo, who also demonstrated interest to join United.

Youth choir in Wapixana village of Maloca de Moscow.

As we have had no presence in São Paulo before, we are breaking new ground thanks to God opening the minds of new people who are very interested in the truth. We need to pray that God protects these new ones from Satan’s deception and brings them along to the truth. We now have an urgent need to set up a more visible ministry via video sermons and Internet contact to help these people along. We may even have to have a new Feast of Tabernacles site to teach these new prospective members about God’s Way. Let’s pray for God to bless this effort in the industrial hub of Brazil.

Change to the Feast Site in Brazil

Giovane Macedo and his family with Jorge de Campos in Montes Claros.

On Friday I went to Montes Claros for the Sabbath to visit with the Macedo family, conduct a third Bible Seminar and wrap up the Brazilian trip. During this leg of the trip I learnt from the brethren in Maloca de Moscow about their decision that two of the four heads of family decided not to leave the village to attend the Feast in Boa Vista.

So that we would keep them together as a family, and upon prayer and council with the home office, we decided to move the Feast site in the North of Brazil, from the town of Boa Vista, back to the village of Maloca, and to conduct it in their new hall. This in fact will be a lot more economical and practical for the local brethren and they have all the equipment necessary to view video sermons in the village.

Regrettably we have to mention to those who intended to travel to Boa Vista from overseas to the Feast, that this is no longer possible—as Maloca de Moscow does not have the facilities for overseas guests. It could accommodate one or two people that would want to camp and rough it, but we could not accommodate a number of visitors. In the meantime we will also investigate other options near São Paulo as God is calling new people in that region and they need instruction about God’s Way, and the Feast is one of the ideal opportunities which God created for that purpose.

After the visit to Montes Claros I started my trip back early Sunday morning, April 22. I thank God once again for the doors that He is opening and for the health that he personally granted to me during this trip. Please continue praying that God may bless His Work in the Portuguese language and pray for these scattered brethren.

For your information, during this trip, we completed the printing of a new booklet in Portuguese making now 18 booklets that we have available in Portuguese. For literature and sermons in Portuguese please visit our members website at membros.revistaboanova.org.

Jorge de Campos—Senior Pastor, Portuguese-speaking Areas

UPDATE: Good News Brochure Distribution

March 20, 2012

Brethren enthusiastically respond to newly expanded program

Just 30 days ago we announced that several new Good News tri-fold brochures were available for distribution by United Church of God brethren and congregations in the United States. We are pleased to report that since that announcement, brethren have enthusiastically responded by requesting nearly 5,000 brochures for distribution!

If you have not yet taken the opportunity to participate in the program we encourage you to do so. Many distribution opportunities are available today to reach potential Good News readers. You can place brochures at various locations in a display or leave a few on a table or countertop for pick-up. Potential distribution places include hospital and clinic lobbies, car and truck repair shops, restaurants, supermarkets, motels, colleges and universities, libraries, convenience stores, hairdressers, senior centers and many other locations.

Additionally, you can use brochures to introduce the Church’s literature to interested relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers. When new subscribers mail in their reply card (or respond via our GNmagazine.org website) they receive a free, year-long, six-issue subscription to The Good News and one of our foundational booklets as advertised on the following brochure covers:

• Heaven and Hell – What Does the Bible Really Teach?
• Holidays or Holy Days – Does it Matter Which Days We Observe?
• Managing Your Finances
• The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy
• What Happens After Death?

As our fourteenth brochure distribution year begins, we invite you to get involved in this newly expanded effort. It is a program in which everyone—young and old—can participate! Please contact John LaBissoniere at john_labissoniere@ucg.org or call (423) 562-9400 or toll-free (888) 369-9940 for your supply of brochures and displays.

For additional information, please visit our new Brochure Distribution Program webpage.

John LaBissoniere—Print Advertising Manager, Media and Communications Services

UYC 2011: Lagos, Nigeria

September 2, 2011

Camping on the Sea Side!

Forty-five staff and campers had a wonderful, exciting and inspiring time at the United Church of God’s “UYC Nigeria 2011″—with everyone strengthening or developing fresh, strong bonds of fellowship and friendship. Camp was attended by brethren from three countries and two continents—Nigeria, Ghana and America; from the continents of Africa and the United States respectively!

Steve Arner, a Youth Corp volunteer, arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, August 10, for the sixth United Youth Camp (UYC) in Nigeria. He was met at the airport by Oludare Akinbo, the resident Elder in Nigeria, his wife Oluwatohungbogbo Akinbo, and by a member of the Lagos congregation, Paul Ogundipe. Two staff and three campers also arrived on Friday from Accra, Ghana; two staff and eight campers from the Owerri congregation in the Eastern part of Nigeria; and eight campers from the Benin City congregation in the western part of Nigeria.

Mark and Michelle Mickelson, through what we believe is a special miracle and grace from God, arrived Sabbath evening. Michelle had to be rushed to the hospital on Tuesday, the morning initially scheduled to leave for Nigeria, and by God’s intervention she was able to make the trip after rescheduling for Friday, August 12.

On the Sabbath in Lagos, attired as the native Nigerians mostly are, Steve Arner gave a sermonette titled “Attitude,” encouraging all to have a positive attitude to all they encounter in life and to be the kind of people God wants us to be.

Camp was held on a little stretch of land dividing a lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. Campers and staff slept in five ten-man tents (with eight persons per tent including gear) and six four-man tents (with three per tent with gear).

On the Sabbath during camp, some brethren from the Lagos congregation also took the half-hour boat ride to join the campers and staff (total attendance 66) for a truly picturesque and inspiring Sabbath in a natural, relaxing and serene environment—adding to the richness of the fellowship and the inspiration in hearing the message delivered by Mark Mickelson, regional pastor for West Africa.

Camp was so much fun with activities ranging from the morning compass checks, daily Christian living classes, team challenge (combining various team building activities), archery, swimming (with water pumped from the ocean into a swimming pool built by some of the oil companies that keep a beach hut by the ocean there), rope bridge (tyrolian traverse), volleyball, craft class and learning the Philippine national dance, Tinikling!

The last night of camp was a Hawaiian themed night with the serving staff attired as Hawaiian men and women complete with grass skirts for the women and neck garland leis for the campers and staff.

Camp ended August 21 with many of the campers from Lagos, Owerri and even Ghana shedding tears when it was time to depart for home. All were happy camp ended and were going back home, but sad the one week of fellowship and friendships discovered and strengthened with brethren sharing the same faith and goal was finally at an end. They would be going back to their respective church areas and homes to continue living as examples of God’s children in a world where to be different and standing for the truth often makes you walk alone or not with many deep close personal friends.

Oludare Okinbo—Pastor, Lagos, Nigeria

U.S. Member Meets With Indian Congregation

August 14, 2011 [Report from Kourtney Hannaway]

Agra Church Has U.S. Visitor

Hello everyone,

I just had a wonderful weekend with the brethren in Agra, India. They really wanted me to write something about my experience! I am happy to, so here it is.

Kourtney Hannaway and brethren in Agra, India.

In planning for my 10-week school internship to India, I wasn’t sure how possible it would be to meet with United Church of God brethren. I looked around on various Church of God websites but didn’t find much and I wasn’t sure who to contact. After hearing that the Schreiber family had recently visited brethren in India, I e-mailed Mr. Dave Schreiber. After that, everything seemed to just fall into place, with God’s blessing I’m sure.

Despite being a good 15 hours away from Agra, I was able to make the trip this weekend. I had a wonderful Sabbath service with about 10 other people. Mr. Prakash Mandora was also visiting. They were all so kind and generous, helping by giving most of the service in both English and Hindi. I was struck by how sincere and enthusiastic they all are for learning the truth. It is wonderful to see and visit with people across the world, especially who are new in the faith and very excited about any knowledge and fellowship, since everyone is so spread out.

I had a great time with them this weekend. I’m going back to Mumbai in a few weeks (from my position in Falna as an intern) and I plan to visit Mr. Prakash and his family once more before I return home to America. I know God has been with me to allow for these wonderful experiences here with brethren in India.

Agra, India, congregation of the United Church of God.

The Internship

I attend the University of Oregon and one of my majors is Journalism. I wanted to study abroad in India for this summer so after an application and some interviews my university matched me with an organization called Educate Girls which is based in Mumbai. It’s a non-profit organization that helps find ways for rural families to enroll their girls in school. The head office is in Mumbai, but they do most of their field work in Rajasthan, India, which has the highest gender disparity for children in school.

So I’ve spent a little time in Mumbai and most of it in Bali, Rajasthan. As an intern I have been helping them edit content for their new website that just went live. I also visit the rural areas and interview and document families, schools and villages to make stories about the need for Educate Girls and the impact the organization is having.

I regularly attend the Salem and Eugene United Church of God congregations in Oregon.

Kourtney Hannaway

Ken Murray: Update From Sri Lanka

August 9, 2011

Good News Meetings an Inspiring Success

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA—It’s Tuesday morning now, after our first Monday night “Good News Meeting” at the Galadari Hotel here in Colombo, Sri Lanka—which was a great success thanks to God’s blessing.

The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. and we had 96 people from our Good News readership in attendance (including 17 of our UCG members), and our audience kept asking questions after my 50-minute address until 9 p.m. After the meeting I was surrounded by individuals thanking us and asking many questions until after 10 p.m.

So many of them told me and our other Sri Lankan brethren that they can hardly wait to come again tomorrow night to hear more information about end-time prophecies and how to prepare for Jesus Christ’s return to establish God’s Government on this earth.

Sri Lanka

Quite a few of the attendees are leading people in Sri Lanka and a few of them want me to go to their churches and groups to teach their people about the “true God” of the Bible and God’s plan of salvation for all of mankind.

We had a cross-section mixture of Sri Lankan society, with attendees from Budhist, Catholic, Hindu, Moslem, and Evangelical viewpoints—many who moved from the back to the edge of their chairs, being so intent on hearing our message as it progressed.

Second “Good News Meeting”

It is now just 10 hours before we have our second “Good News Meeting” tonight (Tuesday, August 9), building upon the foundation of our first meeting. We will be covering in more depth the major end-time prophecies leading up to Jesus Christ’s return and establishment of God’s Government on this earth and how we can prepare.

Visiting our Good News Readers

The brethren and myself feel that God is beginning to move our readership here in Sri Lanka and open amazing doors. Because I was prevented from going into India, I have been able to spend over a week here continually visiting our Good News readers, especially those who said they would love to come to our two meetings but couldn’t come because of distance or lack of resources. Hence, I have been able to travel with some of our accompanying brethren to cities such as Mannar (seven hours north), Kandy (three hours east), Kalutura (two hours south), Negombo and other places—visiting many people who are keen to learn God’s truth.

I went to St. Lawrence Catholic Church here in Colombo to visit one of our GN readers and he introduced me to his priest, Bob Rodrigo, who is the main priest in that major church in Colombo. As I entered Mr. Rodrigo’s office I noticed a small stack of well-worn Good News magazines on his desk. He smiled at me and said that he was so pleased to meet me. In our discussion he said that he loves the Good News magazine and uses our biblical in-depth information in his sermons. Also, he gives our magazine to other priests who also value and use the information in their messages as well.

Three hours from Colombo, Jerome Pereira (a member in UCG) and I visited a young married couple at Kandy, who serve and teach in the Kandy City Mission. They told us how they use our booklet on Marriage and Family in counseling people to have happier marriages.

Left to Right: Ken Murray, Darshi and Yohan Krishnakumar, and Jerome Pereira

Seven hours north of Colombo, at Mannar on the Northwest coast, we visited an elderly couple who had told me they could not make it to our meetings. They also invited a leading town council leader, their daughter who is a much loved doctor in Mannar, and other notable people—six in all—along with four of my fellow travelling brethren: Frank, Tina, Jerome and Annette. We had a really lively talk with them as they sat on the edge of their seats listening to Scripture about the coming of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation for them and all mankind. I was able to anoint his wife for a serious avian virus that had left he disabled in a wheel chair.

The Good News Gets Through

Two months previously a Mr. Jesuthason had e-mailed me to tell me he wasn’t getting his Good News magazines, so I contacted Alec Surratt in our home office correspondence section and he personally made sure that he was on the mailing list. However, when we first arrived to Mr. Jesuthason’s home in Mannar, I asked him if he had received his GN in the mail yet and I was surprised to hear that he hadn’t. Anyway, just as we had finished our visit and were having warm hugs with them all, who should turn up to the house but the postman. And guess what? The postman handed me Mr. Jesuthason’s envelope with the GN as mailed to him from our Belgium mailing contractor. What a pleasure is was to be able to hand him his magazine personally in front of his wife and daughter and other invited friends. Needless to say, they said they were all going to request their own subscription to The Good News.

Thoughout my stay I have been able to begin counseling four people for baptism. At Sabbath services we had an attendance of 21 members including myself at our new meeting room at Sasakawa Hall, Colombo.

Kandy, Sri Lanka, Botanical Gardens (courtesy McKay Savage, Wikimedia Commons)

On Sunday a small evangelical church pastor near Kalutura (two hours south), who is a GN subscriber, invited me to speak about God’s plan of salvation for all mankind to his more than 30 members. They received the message very keenly as it was translated by two interpreters standing beside me into Singhala and Tamil languages. At the end of the 45-minute message they asked me to pray for them so we all kneeled together in a big huddle as I asked God’s blessing upon them, to call them and to guide them through the gift of repentance and baptism to receive God’s Holy Spirit and to begin their spiritual journey of conversion to the mind and conduct of Jesus Christ. Their pastor has since travelled all the way up to Colombo to hear last night’s Good News Meeting message, as well as telling me after our meeting that he is keen to come again, tonight.

There are way too many other amazing and wonderful things that God is doing here for me to be able to effectively tell you about. I feel overwhelmed by how God is opening the minds of people and removing the veil of philosophical confusion.

Will try to keep you informed.

Ken Murray—UCG Minister—Australia, India, Sri Lanka

Ken Murray

Jail Time for UCG Minister!

August 4, 2011

Visiting Tour of India and Sri Lanka 

Travel Notes from Ken Murray and Prakash Mandora

I flew out from Brisbane, Australia, on Thursday, July 28, to meet with our UCG brethren in India. Prakash flew from Pune to Kolkata, India, in readiness to meet up with me for our visiting tour of the far North Eastern part of India.

Upon flying in to Chennai, India, at about 11a.m. I received quite a shock when they turned me away from entry through customs—and locked me up in the clink. I thought I had a multi-entry visa, but the Indian Consulate in Australia had previously issued me with only a “double entry” visa.

So, because I have already travelled on 2 visiting tours in India this year, they rejected my entry for a third time. This stunned me, but I paid them for a plane ticket to take me to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at 6.30p.m. that same day.

What happened next was also totally unexpected. A gun-toting soldier took me to their lock-up gaol in the airport. So, I took my video camera out of me carrying bag and recorded them while they were putting me in their airport gaol.

Seeking inspiration I used the Apostle Paul’s question: “Why are you locking me up in jail, when there is no criminal charge laid against me, and I have broken none of your India laws? I wish to appeal to the Australian Consulate here in Chennai.”

While I was in their gaol they picked the padlock on my suitcase and stole all of my India and Srilankan currency I had in a money belt under the lid of my padlocked suitcase (about $US500). Over an hour later another young soldier came to my cell and had pity upon me being held in captivity with no toilet facilities or food, so he opened the padlock on the gaol cell and let me out. Then he sat beside me on a bench seat in an open room alongside the cell area, as an armed guard.

Now I understand how Paul felt to some degree, being thrown in gaol for no legal charge.

All Things Work Together

Five and a half hours later I flew out of India to Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I am now staying at the Ramada Hotel. But, it wasn’t until I was in my hotel room and opened my padlocked bag that I found my empty money belt hanging from its net pocket inside the lid of my bag. They must have picked the lock, stole the money and then reclosed the padlock on my suitcase.

Lunch Sri Lankan style at the home of Yohan & Darshi Krishnakumar, at Kandy, Sri Lanka.

But, “all things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” On Sabbath I was able to meet with 17 of our Colombo, Sri Lankan, brethren and have since been busy visiting with our brethren here as well as traveling around the countryside meeting new prospective members—and will be visiting more new people over the next few days.

We now have a new meeting room at the Sasakawa Hall in Colombo for our brethren to meet in, thanks to a few of our brethren here seeking out this new facility. So, my time here has been used profitably in helping them to arrange that facility and secure future Sabbath meeting bookings.

I guess if I hadn’t been rejected from India, then I would not have been able to do these things here in Colombo.

Public Bible Seminars

We are holding two “Good News Meetings” on Monday, August 8, and Tuesday August 9, and over 150 Good News readers have told us by e-mail and SMS messages already that they are coming to our meetings.

India Still Being Served

What happened to Prakash, awaiting me in Kolkata, India, you may wonder? Well, meantime, my faithful member traveling friend, Prakash Mandora (who has accompanied me on 2 previous trips), had to travel on alone up into Northeast India to carry on our visiting tour, but without me.

God really lifted him through His Spirit and being “strong and of good courage” Prakash soldiered on without me and did a wonderfully inspired job of speaking to over 60 Sabbath-keeping brethren at Kolasib and also talking to leaders in a Sabbath-keeping church there in Aizawl—which has over 2,000 members who keep the Sabbath and Holy Days.

Outside the home of Yohan & Darshi Krishnakumar, at Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Prakash also visited brethren there in their individual homes day-after-day until past midnight and then up at the crack of dawn the next day—visiting and praying for people and for those who were sick. These people have three services on a Sabbath day and are very keen to learn God’s truth more thoroughly—like the “noble Bereans” searching the scriptures to prove these things are so.

He was invited to speak in their congregation of over 60 attendees about the “Plan of God,” “How God Answers Prayer” and “Why did God give us the blessing of the Sabbath?”

Robbed Again

Prakash then flew on to New Delhi, but sadly, as he was getting out of his Tuk Tuk transport at the hotel, someone stole his laptop computer, passport and train and airline tickets that he had in a bag. He reported the snatch-and-run to the police and now has a temporary passport.

Very early the next morning (6 a.m.), he continued with our visiting tour plans by taking the train to Agra so he could speak to our 18 UCG brethren there this coming Sabbath before flying home to Pune, India.

Meantime, here in Colombo, I have been receiving a stream of visiting requests from readers of our Good News magazine. So, I have been travelling to places such as Kandy, Kalutura, Negombo and Mannar visiting and encouraging and anointing the sick.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us. Please especially pray for Prakash’s safe journey home to Pune and please pray for the success of our “Good News Meetings” here in Colombo, to be held next Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Ken Murray—UCG Minister—Australia, India, Sri Lanka

Ken Murray

GCE Report: Sunday Afternoon

May 15, 2011

Sunday PM Session: General Conference of Elders

After the opening prayer by Leonard Martin, the General Conference of Elders chairman, Melvin Rhodes, called the afternoon session to order.

Oludare Akinbo

Several very interesting items were on the agenda for this portion of the weekend. To begin, Mr. Rhodes led a combined international report that also included Oludare Akinbo from Lagos, Nigeria, and David Schreiber (who just returned from India and Sri Lanka). A question and answer session will be held later this evening, with elders able to ask the presenters questions about our successes in serving the brethren in these areas.

In Mr. Akinbo’s area, the brethren from several neighboring countries are now being served in a rather miraculous way, like never before. God appears to be blessing our efforts greatly in West Africa.

David Schreiber

Mr. Schreiber, who had spent a lot of time using Skype and e-mail to communicate with the brethren in India and Sri Lanka from his home in the U.S.A., realized he needed to make a visit to their region to give the brethren the ministerial guidance and instruction in God’s word that they were craving. For the assembled GCE audience, Mr. Schreiber then showed a two-minute video clip that showed highlights of his trip to India.

Victor Kubik, operation manager for Ministerial and Member Services, followed up with a lecture that focused mostly on looking forward in our service to the brethren of the United Church of God. He showed how a concerted and very successful effort has been made to provide congregations, pastors and elders for God’s people across the United States and around the world. While the budget is less, the priorities are the same.

Peter Eddington, operation manager for Media and Communications Services, gave a visual presentation, accompanied by slides and video, that covered our new ucg.org website, an update about Beyond Today, and additional information about our Kingdom of God Bible Seminars.

Mr. Eddington added that our Media and Communications Services budget for 2011-2012, that we balloted on earlier today, is the same as it was for this fiscal year. We have not cut back on our priority to preach the gospel, for which we are very thankful to God the Father, Jesus Christ, our president and our treasurer. Necessary cuts were made elsewhere in order to give our proclamation efforts the best “shot in the arm” possible for at least the next 12 months.

Bill Bradford

After a 20-minute break, the ministry returned to hear two additional presentations. The first was by Bill Bradford, pastor in Brisbane, Australia, and the second was by Brian Shaw, a UCG pastor in Minnesota with considerable media experience, about our critical essence.

Mr. Bradford noted that the founding principles of the Church have been under assault in the past few years. The concepts of his presentation covered several needful things: 1) restoring confidence in Christ’s vision of the Church, 2) restoring confidence in our organization of the Church, including the principles of our structure, 3) addressing our failure to follow some foundational principles, and 4) creating a path for all to follow that will strengthen our purpose, our mission and our existence as a Church.

Mr. Shaw began his presentation by stating that the work of the Church of God has many media options for the preaching of the Gospel today, but these options bring with them much competing clutter that can veil our efforts. The United Church of God is also blessed with many contributors whose collaborative efforts provide our print and electronic media a diverse and wide perspective, but we are not always identified as one, recognizable voice, with a consistent, familiar persona.

Brian Shaw

He continued, cutting through the media clutter in a way that clearly distinguishes who we are and what we do as the very Church of God, grows to be more and more challenging every day. Our goal is to present the very essence of whom we are as God’s people in preaching the Gospel of His Kingdom as clearly as possible.

A question-and-answer session with the Council of Elders and the administration was announced to be held after dinner at 8 p.m. But first, the ballot results were announced by the GCE chairman, Melvin Rhodes, as follows:

• The 2011-2012 Strategic Plan was approved 226 yes to 8 no.
• The 2011-2012 Operation Plan was approved 226 yes to 7 no.
• The 2011-2012 Budget was approved 225 yes to 9 no.
• Roy Holladay was ratified to retain his seat on the Council of Elders 205 yes to 28 no.
• An amendment to Bylaws section 8.4.3 was adopted 205 yes to 28 no.
• An amendment to Bylaws section 9.1 and 9.2 was adopted 201 yes to 29 no.
• International nominee appointed to the Council of Elders was Bill Bradford.
• U.S. nominees appointed or returned to the Council of Elders were Darris McNeely, Don Ward and Robin Webber.
• The vacant council seat was filled by Gary Antion.

The day concluded with prayer by Braden Veller at 5:30 p.m.

Peter Eddington—Media and Communications Services

New UCG.ORG Online!

May 3, 2011

The new UCG.org website is online!

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned United Church of God, an International Association, website at UCG.org. The new site is online and ready for you to explore.  Please visit it today. While you are there, please sign up for an account and start to build relationships.

You will notice the site still has the “beta” image in the header. We are keeping the site in beta for the time being. We are still soliciting feedback about functionality and any errors you might encounter. Please use the “feedback” form on the bottom of the page to give us your feedback.

Thanks for all of your prayers over the past year and into the future as we continue to develop new and exciting functionality for the site.

Tom Disher—Senior Web Developer

UYC Application Deadline May 1

April 28, 2011

United Youth Camps Announcement

Registration for campers and staff is coming along well at our five youth summer camp locations. Hundreds of campers and staff have applied so far and are excited about being together at camp this summer. Just a reminder that the registration deadline is Sunday, May 1. But don’t panic, if you are a few days late, we understand. But it is time for all campers and staff to register online now to reserve your week at camp. Please register online at uyc.ucg.org.

Camp scholarships are also available if needed. Please see your pastor for details.

Several camps have specific needs for staff. Camp Pinecrest needs a registered nurse, canoe staff and counseling staff. Camp Hye Sierra is looking for a certified lifeguard and dance instructor. So if you can help, please contact the specific camp director.

Campers and staff, we are truly looking forward to a wonderful camp season this summer. Be sure to apply now so you don’t miss out.

Steve Nutzman—National Coordinator, United Youth Camps

San Antonio “Beyond Today” TV Recording Very Successful!

April 11, 2011

The special Beyond Today session recorded in San Antonio, Texas, on the Sabbath of April 9 went extremely well. Gary Petty recorded three new programs in front of the San Antonio congregation at 1:30 p.m. at the congregation’s normal meeting place.

Camryn Stetter and Sam Urbina

A particular highlight during the service was beautiful special music sung by Camryn Stetter and Sam Urbina. They did “Search Me, O God” based on Psalm 19:12 and “Think on These Things” based on Philippians 4:6-9, 20. Mr. Urbina provided ukelele accompaniment.

The media department team who drove to San Antonio to handle this special event included Clay Thornton, Clint Porter, Rudy Rangel, Jamie Schreiber and Peter Eddington.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the three new Beyond Today programs covered the following subjects:

• “Stability for a Stressed-out Life” offering our booklet, “How to Understand the Bible“
• “You Have a Destiny” offering our booklet, “What Is Your Destiny?“
• “The Stuff of Dreams” offering our booklet, “Making Life Work“

Editing and final production will now be done at the home office in Cincinnati, with these programs to begin airing on WGN America and across Canada in June and July. Below are several photographs from the Sabbath service. Click on each of them for a larger version.

Peter Eddington—Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services